TÁR

After hearing the hype about Cate Blanchett's performance from all of the fall film festivals, TÁR became one of my most anticipated movies and I was so excited to have a chance to see it last night!  This cautionary tale about the fall from grace of a brilliant composer and conductor is incredibly compelling and thought-provoking.  Lydia Tár (Blanchett) is arrogant and imperious in her professional life as the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and remote and unfeeling in her personal relationships with her partner Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss), her personal assistant Francesca Lentini (Noemie Merlant), and a Russian cellist named Olga Metkina (Sophie Kauer).  When an allegation of impropriety towards young conductor (Sylvia Flote) she once mentored is suggested, she slowly comes undone as everyone in her life turns against her.  Blanchett gives an incredibly powerful performance because her character is very unsympathetic (she is the architect of her own demise) and yet you somehow begin to feel sympathy for her.  This is a long and slow moving character study but my attention never wavered because Blanchett is so captivating and every scene is fraught with meaning (the significance of which is not always immediately apparent but is eventually revealed).  I really enjoyed the ambiguity of the narrative because the audience is never really sure if she is guilty of what she has been accused of, especially when a supposedly incriminating video of a lecture at Julliard surfaces and turns public opinion against her because the audience knows what really transpired.  It is an interesting commentary on cancel culture and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.  I also really enjoyed the discussion about whether artists should be judged by their work or by their behavior.  Finally, as a fan of classical music, I was impressed by the use of Mahler's Fifth Symphony and Elgar's Cello Concerto, especially since Blanchett is actually conducting and Kauer is performing.  This will not be for everyone but I absolutely loved it (I predict that it will appear on my top ten list for the year).

Halloween Ends

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Halloween but I really disliked Halloween Kills so I didn't know what to expect when I went to see Halloween Ends, the final movie in the trilogy, last night.  It ended up being a mixed bag for me because the concept is very compelling but, in my opinion, the final resolution is anticlimactic.  It is once again Halloween in Haddonfield and a college student named Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is babysitting a young boy named Jeremy (Jaxon Goldberg).  When Jeremy accidentally falls to his death, Corey is cleared of any wrongdoing but the town holds him responsible and he is often bullied and harassed.  Four years after his latest killing spree, Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) seems to have disappeared while Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is trying to put her past behind her and live a normal life with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak).  Corey begins a relationship with Allyson and, while Laurie is initially sympathetic to Corey's plight as the town pariah, she comes to disapprove of the romance because she senses evil inside him.  After a particularly brutal confrontation with a group of students in which he is severely injured, Corey encounters Myers in the sewer where he has been living for the past four years.  Myers sees himself in Corey and eventually helps him kill everyone who has persecuted him which culminates in an attack on Laurie.  It is an interesting twist to sideline Michael for most of the runtime to focus on Corey and how he becomes a serial killer but it worked for me because I was very intrigued by what the filmmakers had to say about the nature of evil.  However, this narrative is basically abandoned in order to get to the expected confrontation between Michael and Laurie so there is no payoff (I wish the filmmakers had been fully committed to Corey's character arc and the idea that evil doesn't die but just changes shape).  Furthermore, I was so disappointed by the final showdown between these two iconic characters because Michael's death seems much too easy after all of Laurie's previous attempts to kill her nemesis (I think the saga should have concluded with Halloween because the scenes where Laurie stalks Michael through her house are incredibly suspenseful and terrifying).  I liked this more than the previous installment but the bar was set pretty low.

Thriller 2022

I have been attending Odyssey Dance Theatre's annual Halloween dance extravaganza Thriller for more than twenty years and it has always been one of my favorite Halloween traditions.  However, Derryl Yeager, the founder and artistic director of ODT, is retiring so this year's production will be the final one.  Since I won't be able to see it again I enjoyed it even more than usual last night and so did the loud and enthusiastic crowd at Kingsbury Hall!  There weren't any new dance numbers but that didn't really matter because I felt very nostalgic about all of my old favorites.  I looked forward with great anticipation to seeing the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas during their first recital in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," schoolgirls who are possessed by porcelain dolls in "Annabelle of the Ball," a trio of Jasons wielding a variety of weapons (including chainsaws) in "Jason Jam," scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number in the show), demonic dolls in "Chucky-Rama," acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  Every one of these numbers put a huge smile on my face and I think "Jason Jam" was even funnier than usual!  Once again the artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed "Siren of the Sea," "Phantom of the Opera," "Full Moon," and "Slytherin" and these numbers were so much fun to watch because I have no idea how they do what they do!  My favorite was "Full Moon" which involved a group of six artists costumed as wolves and one as Little Red Riding Hood performing on a spinning globe.  Finally, I was so happy to see the return of Bubbles the Clown (he is hilarious) in between the numbers!  I had so much fun last night (as well as at every performance through the years) and, if you have never seen it before, I highly recommend getting a ticket before it is too late!  It runs at Kingsbury Hall through October 22 and at Tuacahn through October 31 (go here for tickets).

Fall Camping Trip 2022

For the past four days I have been on a fall camping trip with my family up at the property and it has been so much fun!  My brother-in-law Trent and I went up Thursday and decided to take the scenic route through Big Cottonwood Canyon over Guardsman Pass into Midway in order to see the fall foliage.  The views were amazing!

Once we got to the property in Tabiona, we took the side by side on a few trails.  I'm getting better at driving it!

There are so many trails to explore!  I always have to make a stop at my favorite rock formation!

Kristine, Tashena, Trent's sister, his two nieces, and his niece's three kids (who were adorable) came up Friday afternoon.  We drove to a little town called Bluebell (in the middle of nowhere) for a really great corn maze with lots of other fall activities (I loved the pumpkin launching).  We got dinner there and I had my first caramel apple of the season!

On Saturday Trent made one of his famous breakfasts on the griddle and then we had a lot of fun playing games and sitting around the fire.  The kids made s'mores and we roasted brats over the fire for dinner.  It was wonderful.

I slept each night in the trailer and, as always, I really loved it.  I am so grateful that Trent and Kristine let me stay in it whenever I want!

By Sunday afternoon I was tired, dirty, sunburned, and everything I brought up smelled like smoke.  In other words, it was a really great trip!  It was really hard to come back home!

Sister Act at HCTO

Another musical that has become very popular with Utah audiences is Sister Act.  Even though the production at HCTO last night was the third one I've seen in a year I thoroughly enjoyed it!  A nightclub singer named Deloris Van Cartier (Aria Love Jackson) accidentally sees her gangster boyfriend Curtis (Brock Harris) kill someone so she is placed in the Queen of Angels Convent by a love-struck policeman named Eddie (Nathan Wawro) to keep her safe until she can testify against him.  She wreaks havoc on the orderly way of life at the convent until the Mother Superior (Mindy Taylor) puts her in charge of the choir to keep her out of trouble.  The new and improved choir's unorthodox performances bring people back to the church but all of the attention puts the convent in danger when Curtis and his henchmen see Deloris on TV.  This is such a fun and energetic show and the exuberant cast had the audience laughing out loud and, eventually, dancing in the aisles!  Jackson is outstanding as Deloris because, even though she is diminutive, she has a powerful voice and I really enjoyed her rendition of "Fabulous, Baby" and the reprise.  She is hilarious when she tries to teach the nuns how to sing and dance and full of sass during her interactions with the Mother Superior.  All of the nuns (Abigail Filmore, Courtney Byrom, Tina Fontana, Shannon Eden, Mary Jane Smith, Channing Spotts, and Sophia Campagna) do a great job singing and dancing in the big production numbers "Take Me to Heaven," "Sunday Morning Fever," and "Spread the Love Around."  I couldn't stop laughing when Sister Mary Lazarus (Tina Fontana), the oldest nun in the convent, starts rapping during "Sunday Morning Fever" wearing a Phillies baseball cap but Austin Baum (as TJ), Christian Wawro (as Joey), and Armando Serrano (as Pablo) steal the show with "Lady in the Long Black Dress" (the choreography is so much fun).  I also really enjoyed Michael Smith as Monsignor O'Hara (watch him twirling his stole during "Take Me to Heaven").  This show is set in the 1970s so the costumes are absolutely fabulous with lots of bold colors and patterns and I loved how the nuns' habits (and the Monsignor's vestments) get more and more bedazzled as the show goes on!  The set features moving panels which are used to project images of stained glass windows, Gothic arches, and various office interiors with the addition of a few props moved on and off stage.  The floor is a rotating checkerboard of flashing lights (which caused a few technical difficulties last night) and this, along with a disco ball, adds a lot of energy to the choir's performances.  This production is a blast (I left the theatre with a big smile on my face) and I highly recommend it.  In runs at HCTO through November 19 (go here for tickets).